


Hands

by WrongDecision



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Magic Lessons, Other, Suggestive stuff but nothing explicit at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-15 23:45:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17538617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrongDecision/pseuds/WrongDecision
Summary: Julian is struggling to learn magic.Nien isn't having it.





	Hands

"It isn't working."  
Julian's brows were furrowed in frustration as he tried to follow the instructions Nien had given him.  
He stared intensely at the symbol he had had to draw, hand forming a similar pose to the one Nien was doing, fingers splayed and palm up in the air.  
"It's no use. I simply am not made for practicing magic."  
Nien rolled their eyes.  
"Using magic in the physical realm is a little more difficult. You are doing well, though. Keep trying."  
He sighed, shaking his hand a little before intently staring at Nien's to copy their movement again.  
This time around though, he was desperate for any kind of success and, in his enthusiasm, seemed to hold it a little too stark.  
Nien could see the cramp coming before it even settled. He should have as well, as a doctor, but as it was...  
"Yowch!"  
Julian shook his hand, taken aback by the sudden, jolting pain.  
He bit his teeth together, looking at Nien miserably.  
"I can't do it. Fate seems to keep me with the science side of this plain."  
Nien rolled their eyes. He was acting. They had seen him go through much higher pain without so much as a blink.  
"Stop being so dramatic, you lug. Here."  
They got up slightly from their crouching position and shuffled the few steps towards him where they sat back down, grabbing his hand.  
The movement made one of their long braids fall halfway over their shoulder, forming a soft curve, before they pushed it back where it came from.  
Nien made him flatten out his hand.  
He complied with an overexaggerated hiss and they took it into both of theirs.  
Nien dug their thumbs into the soft skin at the base of his own and started kneading in circular movements, simultaneously lifting his arm upwards into the air a little, until they were done, then back down and onto the next finger.  
Julian watched intently, following every movement without making any noise, and when Nien glanced up they could see the dark shade of red his ears had taken on.  
It wasn't hard to imagine what he was thinking about.  
After they were done with his fingers Nien went back to his palm.  
A specific point seemed to losen his mouth again, after they pressed down on it.  
"Much better, Nien, thank you."  
Silence after that, but not for long.  
He was still watching what they were doing, admiring almost.  
"See? You have magic hands. Made for this. There is no use in me trying after seeing how spectacularly untalented I am."  
"Shut up."  
He did so, sitting a little straighter and looking at them expectantly, since most of the times a direct command or similar followed these words.  
Nien didn't speak immediately, though.  
They looked him up and down, a crease between their eyebrows.  
He was stalling.  
"What's on your mind, Jewel?"  
He smiled fondly at the silly pet name but complied.  
"Mostly your fingers, Dear. They are... astonishingly long."  
He tested his hand movement for any left over of the cramp and then grabbed Nien's again.  
He put their palms together and Nien went along with it, so that they could compare their hands.  
While Julian's were generally bigger, Nien's fingers easily reached the tips of his own.  
"Huh. I guess you're right. They are quite long."  
They tangled their fingers together.  
Julian looked at their hands, still smiling.  
"If you don't let go, we can't practice."  
"That is the point."  
Nien sighed.  
"What are you so afraid of, Julian?"  
He grunted, knowing they had looked through him.  
"I..."  
Not lifting their head from where they had rested it on their knee, Nien looked up at him expectantly, patiently waiting as their blue and grey eyes glowed in the soft afternoon light that fell into the dusky shop.  
Julian swallowed, knowing they'd just keep staring.  
"...I don't want to impose."  
He sighed.  
"I feel magic is something that connects you and Asra. I do not wish to take this away from either of you."  
Nien furrowed their brows but seemed to think for a bit before answering, looking at their clasped hands.  
"You are not imposing. We are both excited over getting to share this with you. If it was a bother to either of us we would have said so."  
Julian nodded as a sign he understood but didn't reply otherwise.  
"Don't talk yourself out of it, I know you were just as thrilled to learn some of our... tricks."  
They emphasized their last word, before continuing, summoning another sphere of light in the hand that wasn't holding Julian's.  
"And who knows, maybe you'll get something out of it if you succeed."  
Julian seemed to perk up at last.  
"And what might that be, Nien?"  
They chuckled, pulling their hand away from his and gently cupped the back of his neck with it instead.  
Nien could see the pupil of his visible eye dilute the slightest bit.  
They changed the hand's position, sliding it over his jugular vein in the process, so that their thumb was now on the front of his throat, the rest of the fingers splayed against a different side.  
They applied just the softest hint of pressure and Julian answered with a needy whine in the back of his throat.  
"Magic isn't the only thing these fingers are good for, Ilya."  
Nien gave Julian, eyes blown wide and cheeks flushed a dark crimson now, a sly grin, winking as they let the small ball of light dance around their hand before they balled it into a fist, the light disappearing into thin air.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!  
> Wow, this was surprisingly hard to write, despite being so short!  
> I tried using sinilar words as Julian in the game even though that really isn't my style to write.  
> I hope you enjoyed this super short thing, I might write a bit more some time!  
> Thank you for reading ♡


End file.
